I am all about setting goals and developing plans to make them happen. My own personal strategic plan for 2013 is 41 pages long. OK – perhaps a bit overboard, but all set up in a nice binder, organized with tabs for each category – I love it and it’s already working beautifully.

What I have never been, however, is a vision board kind of gal. I’ve always thought they were difficult to create. Gathering all of the supplies – cardboard (big enough to hold all my dreams, but not too big that I couldn’t keep it someplace where I could see it), glue (messy), magazines (enough of them to make sure that all of my dreams were covered) – then taking the time to dig through all of those magazines, hoping to find great, representative pictures, and arranging them in an attractive way – when I don’t feel that I am a very visually-artistic person to begin with. It just never felt like my “thing”.

Until this year.

This year, I wanted a visual representation to go with my personal strategic plan. I’ve been reading (actually re-reading for the third time) Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles and have been determined to implement as many of the principles as possible into my professional and personal life. There it was – Principle 11, page 88 – “Vision Boards and Goal Books Made Their Dreams Come True”. I had the goal book. Time to make the vision board. My way.

The “Connie Whitesell” Vision Board Process:

Supplies needed:

One framed bulletin board (Much more attractive and long-lasting than cardboard and easily obtainable from any office supply store)
A set of attractive thumbtacks (more versatile than tape or glue)
Scissors
A computer with Internet access
A color printer loaded with high-quality paper

While there may not have been many surprises in the overall responses (life is better when the team wins and worse when it loses!), the true heart of this survey was in the meaningful and beautifully expressed feelings and generous guidance offered in response to the open-ended questions.